Privacy-oriented devices … Query Purism

General
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Hello
I am looking for privacy devices…phone and computer… so was looking at Purism. I gather some people have found problems with Purism…is it primarily their customer service or is the quality of their products. Additionally I am in Australia….so wonder if these USA produced devices/phones will work properly in Australia …do they need to be modified for Australian use…?

Also I have an embassy pro that was made in partnership with purism…and now understand that Start9 is no longer in partnership with Purism….

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We have not had issues with the hardware quality (obviously we produce the software) of our Server Pure (formerly named Embassy Pro) devices, and they are still for sale in our store. We are aware that many users have had bad customer service experiences with Purism directly, namely around missed ship dates and refund policies if I understand correctly. We buy these devices wholesale, so all service and support is through Start9, and you can rest assured we will continue to assist if any issues arise with your Server Pure. Can you share with me where you heard that we are not in partnership anymore?

In regard to your search for privacy devices, we do not currently have any official recommendations for third party devices, but this could change in future if we discover a device that would be of benefit to our community. I also cannot comment on compatibility in Australia, this would be a question for the Purism team.

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Thanks Dave.
I heard (assuming I heard correctly) on a fairly recent interview of Matt Hill’s on youTube
that you were no longer in partnership with Purism.

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Hey, I have a few suggestions.

First, from what I have heard, Purism is not a safe bet. There have been a lot of stories floating around that they are struggling. (Privacy, security, and OSINT podcast) In addition to that, I find them very over priced for what they offer.
Here are my recommendations.

OS = Operating System (i.e. Windows, Linux, StartOS)

Phones

Phone OS’s

Another great way to go about it is to get an android phone and install a privacy friendly OS on it. Google Pixels are good for this. What I would suggest is first choose the OS you want and then choose a phone from their supported phones list.
Good OS’s:

Computers

Unless you really have an intense threat model and are worried about the inbuilt intel and amd backdoors (which I know very little about and I don’t think are most people’s threat models) then pretty much any laptop would do good. Whatever you go with, I would recommend Linux 100%. Windows and MacOS have way too much privacy invasion. If you would like some specific computer companies that are focused towards linux and privacy, here are a few.

https://frame.work fully modular laptop. This laptop is rediculously awsome!
https://www.pine64.org/ Lower end models but still cool
https://system76.com/ higher end computers but very solid option

Compuer OS’s

Really whatever you want. Nearly all linux operating systems are privacy respecting. A few of my favorites are PopOS, Blend OS, Garuda, Kubuntu, and Fedora. There are literally thousands of ones to choose from. They all pretty much run on any computer except Cromebooks (because ChromeOS is evil and should be shunned to the farthest ends of the earth). If you want one to just try out, I recommend PopOS. It’s very solid, has great support, and has good privacy and security.

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It is correct that we will not be making further orders with them, but the devices we have bought, and will continue to sell, are still great hardware, and we stand behind them with our customer support and software.

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Thanks very much I appreciate your help…!